Lernean Hydra
The Lernean Hydra was a monstrous, many-headed serpent that lurked in the eerie depths near the lake of Lerna in the Argolid. The caverns near Lerna were whispered to be gateways to the underworld, and modern archaeologists have unearthed evidence of its ancient, sacred significance, predating Mycenaean Argos. The demigod Herakles, alongside his cousin Iolaus, faced this nightmarish beast as the second of his 12 labors, all to appease the vengeful Hera. The Hydra’s headcount varied in different tales, but future incarnations were known to have nine heads, each one replaced by two more when severed. Various methods have been devised to slay this serpent, but the most common tactic was to sever all its heads before they could regenerate.
History
The Lernean Hydra was born of the terrifying union between Typhon, the Titan father of monsters, and Echidna, the Titan mother of monsters. A truly fearsome lineage. After the Titanomachy, Typhon, and Echidna hid in the wilderness until their monstrous offspring began to terrorize early Greeks, drawing the ire of Zeus. Typhon was entombed beneath Mount Aetna, while Echidna fled to Arcadia, where she bore more children with Orthus before the Amazons imprisoned her beneath Themyscyra. Of their four surviving children, only the Sphinx was allowed freedom, while the Lernean Hydra was taken to the underworld and nurtured by Hera, specifically to destroy Zeus’ latest son with a mortal, Herakles.
Antiquity
Nearly two millennia before Herakles and Iolaus undertook their labors, the alien kaiju Fin Fang Foom clashed with the Lernean Hydra. The goal was to eliminate rivals for dominance among the giant monsters, but as the Hydra’s heads kept regenerating, Fin Fang Foom deemed the battle futile and retreated to its lair.
After Herakles strangled the Nemean Lion and donned its invulnerable skin as armor, he returned to Cleonae. The shepherd who tasked Herakles with killing the lion sacrificed a ram to Zeus, but King Eurystheus, who assigned the labors, refused to see him in person. Hera then gave the King the next labor, delivered to Herakles via a herald: slay the Lernean Hydra. Herakles and Iolaus journeyed to the swamps of Lake Lerna, firing flaming arrows into the Hydra’s lair to draw it out. The many-headed beast attacked, accompanied by a giant crab that snapped and bit at Herakles’ feet. Herakles killed the crab but realized he couldn’t defeat the Hydra with his sickle alone. He and Iolaus coordinated their efforts, with Herakles severing a head and Iolaus using his torch to cauterize the wound, preventing regeneration.
Eventually, the Hydra lay headless and defeated. Herakles then dipped his arrows in the Hydra’s poisonous blood and venom, enhancing their lethality. He covered the serpent’s corpse with a massive boulder, one only his godly strength could move, ensuring it would never rise again. He and Iolaus returned to Cleonae, believing they had completed the labor. However, King Eurystheus later claimed Herakles had too much help, forcing him to undertake another labor, a ploy by Hera for another chance at revenge.
Cold War Era
Wonder Woman was finally allowed to return to Themyscira after defeating Ares for what they believed would be the final time. When Zeus came to Paradise Island to celebrate with the Amazons, Wonder Woman rebuffed his advances, inciting his wrath. She was summoned to Olympus, where she was ordered to make amends for her slight by braving labors given by several other Olympians. These trials awaited her beneath Themyscira, and should she return with Zeus’ treasure, she would earn the pantheon’s favor once more.
Wonder Woman passed through Doom’s Doorway and descended into the caverns of imprisoned demons. Her first challenge came swiftly, as she was attacked by a Hecatoncheires, which she dispatched with relative ease. Her second labor, however, was a seven-headed hydra, a fearsome relative of the Lernean Hydra. Wonder Woman quickly realized she couldn’t sever the hydra’s heads fast enough to kill it, so she bound it with her Lasso of Truth before piercing its heart with several of her arrows. The Amazon’s confidence got the better of her, though, when she reclaimed her lasso and the hydra struck her with one last gout of its toxic venom. That final attack destroyed nearly all of Wonder Woman’s weapons, and she fell unconscious.
Wonder Woman eventually regained consciousness and overcame her other labors to claim the treasures she was sent to find. Her mother, Queen Hippolyta, had ventured through Doom’s Doorway after her daughter. Pan, concerned that the Queen would discover he had engineered the entire ordeal, planted the hydra’s teeth to create skeletal warriors known as Spartoi to kill her. This scheme ultimately failed when Queen Hippolyta defeated the Spartoi.
Superhuman Registration Era
A resurrected Ares lifted the boulder that covered the Lernean Hydra’s corpse, and the serpent regenerated. Now freed and with its heads restored, the Lernean Hydra was entrusted to a family that had been loyal servants to the Olympian god of war for generations. The family kept it on their alligator farm in Louisiana. Ares returned later to collect some of its blood to use against Herakles.
A witch had taken over Circe’s lair on Themyscira and used her magic to free the monsters of Greek myth in the city of Chicago, including the Lernean Hydra. Wonder Woman went to the Windy City to battle the monsters and stop them from killing Chicago’s citizens. After she quickly dispatched the manticore, she engaged the towering Hydra. Although Wonder Woman had intended to engage the serpent alone and keep the other heroes out of Amazonian business, the Flash followed her and assisted in decapitating the Lernean Hydra fast enough to slay it. After defeating the rest of the freed monsters with the Flash’s unwanted help, Wonder Woman then traveled back to Themyscira, where she investigated the cause of the attack and faced the witch.
References
- The Labours of Hercules on Wikipedia
- The Lernaean Hydra on Wikipedia
- The Lernean Hydra on Marvel Database
- Hercules Panhellenios (Earth-616) on Marvel Database
- Hydra (species) on DC Database
- Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #10 on DC Database
- Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #11 on DC Database
- Wonder Woman Vol. 2 #12 on Database
- New Talent Showcase Vol. 2 #1 on DC Database
Aliases
- The Hydra
- The Lernaean Hydra
- The Lernaian Hydra
- The Many-Headed Hydra
Comments